The trio are added to a voice cast for 'Moominvalley' that already includes Rosamund Pike, Kate Winslet and Taron Egerton.

Jennifer Saunders, Matt Lucas and Alison Steadman have joined the upcoming animated TV series centered on the Moomins, the central characters in a series of hugely popular Scandinavian children’s books.

The animated TV series Moominvalley already has Rosamund Pike, Taron Egerton, Kate Winslet, Warwick Davis and Matt Berry in its voice cast. The latest additions to the small-screen adaptation, set for two seasons of 13 22-minute episodes and set to air in spring 2019, will have Saunders voice the character of Mymble, while Steadman and Lucas will lend their voices to Emma the Stage Rat and Teety-Woo, respectively.

Katie Leung and Rebecca Root also jump on board the animated project, voicing the characters of Too-Ticky and Misabel. Moominvalley is being produced by Finnish studio Gutsy Animations.

Steve Box, formerly of Aardman and an Oscar winner for co-directing Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit with Nick Park, will direct. The Moomins, created by Finnish illustrator Tove Jansson and first published in 1945 and now one of Finland’s biggest cultural exports, are a family of almost hippopotamus-shaped fairy-tale creatures who have adventures in the fictitious Moominvalley.

Nine books were released in the original series, and there have been numerous TV and film adaptations in a number of languages. Moominvalley, which is being made using a 2D/3D hybrid technique, is being produced by BAFTA-winning producer John Woolley (Shaun the Sheep) and Emmy-winning writing duo Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler (Peter Rabbit).

The animated series is being developed in association with Yle Drama and with the full support of Moomin Characters, the business set up by Jansson and her brother Lars Jansson to manage the Moomin brand.